11-20-2010, 02:16 PM
FWIW, I'm a research NUT when it comes to most items, and definitely anything over $100.
I looked into Cooper CS4s pretty heavily. Not an easy task since there's not a lot out there on them...so I relied mostly on web forums. I concluded that like many tires, they are initially promising but over time, the traction does not hold. To the point of owners being sadly disappointed.
I have found my favorite tire thus far to be the Bridgestone H/L Alenza. I bought these for my old Element and noticed an incredible improvement in rain and snow traction (and quiet) -- the AWD system came to life with these tires. Chirping was also gone. I liked them so much that I replaced the questionable Michelin MXV4s (one cooked and all worn at 30k miles of mostly easy driving and all rotations) on my current ride, an Acura RDX, with the Alenzas. Again, immediate improvement in the wet and quiet, and I have complete confidence in the worst winter will be throwing my way. They are also a great buy at Costco, they're now running their $70 off Bridgestones special.
Unfortunately the Alenzas don't come in my wife's tire size. So I recently got the tires Jamie mentioned above (Yoko Avid Envigor) for the wife's Zuki XL-7 4wd from TR. They are excellent in rain thus far and a monumental improvement overall vs. the BFG Touring T/As that were on it previously (don't ever buy those pos tires!). I expect the snow traction to be nearly as good as the Envigor's rain traction. And we get our share of snow here in KC.
I had a hard time deciding between Envigor and the Geolandar AT-S which gets terrific long-term reviews for snow and rain. The tradeoff for the Geo seems to be a little more road noise. I decided with 4wd, the Envigor was a good if not very good buy for our needs.
I think the key to reading tire reviews is a mix of separating wheat from chaff...I have pretty good faith in TR editorial reviews (and yes I'd largely ignore car mag reviews). And I also have pretty good confidence in tire reviews of those driven 35,000-40,000 miles and up. A lot of tires are great in the first 10k miles and everyone is so excited to post their great review, reinforcing the fact they made the right decision with their money. The rubber truly meets the road in long-term performance/endurance.
I looked into Cooper CS4s pretty heavily. Not an easy task since there's not a lot out there on them...so I relied mostly on web forums. I concluded that like many tires, they are initially promising but over time, the traction does not hold. To the point of owners being sadly disappointed.
I have found my favorite tire thus far to be the Bridgestone H/L Alenza. I bought these for my old Element and noticed an incredible improvement in rain and snow traction (and quiet) -- the AWD system came to life with these tires. Chirping was also gone. I liked them so much that I replaced the questionable Michelin MXV4s (one cooked and all worn at 30k miles of mostly easy driving and all rotations) on my current ride, an Acura RDX, with the Alenzas. Again, immediate improvement in the wet and quiet, and I have complete confidence in the worst winter will be throwing my way. They are also a great buy at Costco, they're now running their $70 off Bridgestones special.
Unfortunately the Alenzas don't come in my wife's tire size. So I recently got the tires Jamie mentioned above (Yoko Avid Envigor) for the wife's Zuki XL-7 4wd from TR. They are excellent in rain thus far and a monumental improvement overall vs. the BFG Touring T/As that were on it previously (don't ever buy those pos tires!). I expect the snow traction to be nearly as good as the Envigor's rain traction. And we get our share of snow here in KC.
I had a hard time deciding between Envigor and the Geolandar AT-S which gets terrific long-term reviews for snow and rain. The tradeoff for the Geo seems to be a little more road noise. I decided with 4wd, the Envigor was a good if not very good buy for our needs.
I think the key to reading tire reviews is a mix of separating wheat from chaff...I have pretty good faith in TR editorial reviews (and yes I'd largely ignore car mag reviews). And I also have pretty good confidence in tire reviews of those driven 35,000-40,000 miles and up. A lot of tires are great in the first 10k miles and everyone is so excited to post their great review, reinforcing the fact they made the right decision with their money. The rubber truly meets the road in long-term performance/endurance.